Roadway smoother



March 1940- J. J. BEADLE ROADWAY SMOOTHER Filed July 11, 1938 PatentedMar. 5, 1940 ROADWAY SMOOTHER John J. Beadle, Corydon, Iowa, assignor ofonehalf to- Frank Coates, Corydon, Iowa Application July 11, 1938,Serial N0. 218,523

3 Claims.

? ing depressions, and the oiled gravel surface is quite hard andunyielding and, therefore, difficult to smooth out.

.JI'he object of my invention is to provide a roadway smoother of simpleand inexpensive con- 1 struction which may be advanced by the usualtractors now in general use for roadway work.

More specifically, it is my object to provide a cutter blade to beadvanced over a roadway to be smoothed and which is designed and shapedto engage only the top portions of the hills and cut them .off, whichobviously may be accomplished with a relatively small amount of tractivepower, and to connect this cutter blade with a trowelingv blade forscraping the roadway material loosened by the cutting blade, into theroadway depressions and pressing same into bonding contact with theroadway and applying thereto a-troweling operation forcompacting andsmoothing the road material so that it will shed rain, and further tooperatively'connect the two blades so that the troweling blade restingupon the roadway will support the cutting blade associated therewith atthe proper elevation from the roadway surface for cutting off the topsonly of the roadway hills and to prevent the cutter blade frompenetrating deeply into the roadway and thereby loosening the tightlypacked roadway material below the normal roadway level, and to providemeans conveniently adjustable by the operator for tilting the trowelingblade so that it will support the cutter blade at any desired elevationfrom the roadway without in any way affecting the normal operation andfunctioning of the troweling blade.

In the accompanying drawing- Figure 1 shows a top or plan view of aroadway scraper embodying my invention;

Figure 2 shows a side elevation of a portion of the same on an enlargedscale; 7

Figure 3 shows a top or plan view of the troweling and cutting blades;

Figure 4 shows an enlarged detail view showing a vertical section ofthecombined cutting blade and troweling blade, and illustrating a portionof a roadway and the condition of same before and after the implementhas passed over it;

Figure 5 shows a side elevation of a modified form of my invention.

Referring to the accompanying drawing I have used the reference numeralH] to indicate generally the frame of a roadworking vehicle mounted uponwheels I l. The blade-supporting frame member I2 is pivoted to the mainframe at its forward end and is supported upon the main frame by a linkl3 connected to a crank i l so that when the crank is turned, theblade-supporting frame I2 maybe moved to an elevated position fortransportation.

Fixed to the frame member l2 are two downwardly extended beams l5 forsupporting the cutting and troweling blades. The troweling bladecomprises a blade member 16 having at its rear end 'portion on the top'of the blade a beam if provided with lugs 18, and the beams [5 arepivotallymoun-ted to these lugs l8. The body of the blade is extendedsubstantially transversely of the machine, as shown in Figure 1, and theforward edge of the blade is positioned above theroadway surface andextends downwardly and rearwardly and then slightly upwardly at its rearend, as shown in Figure 4. Fixed to the forward edge of the trowelingblade I6 is a cutting blade !9. This cutting blade stands in asubstantially upright position, as shown in Figure 2, and its lower edgeprojects-below the front edge of the troweling blade.

For the purpose of. adjusting the blades relative to the frame I21 havevprovided rods 2f!v pivoted to the troweling blade and extended-upwardlythrough lugs 2| carried by the frame l2,

and nuts 22 are mounted on the rods above and below the lugs 2| so thatthe front end of the troweling blade may be vertically adjusted relativeto the frame, and securely held and locked in this position. i

In the modified form shown in Figure 5 I have used the reference numeral23 to indicate the cutting blade which is fixedly directly to theupright beams 24 carried by the frame 12, and the troweling blade whichI have indicated generally by the numeral 25 is pivotally connected atits forward edge to the cutting blade. The rods 28 and 21 are pivotallyconnected to the beam 24 and the rear portion of the troweling blade,and a turnbuckle 28 is mounted upon the rods 28 and 21 for adjusting theposition of the I first move the troweling blade to position restingupon the surface of the roadway. I then adjust the cutter blade bytilting the troweling blade to a position where the cutting blade willengage only the tops of the so-called hills of the roadway. When in thisposition the implement may be advancedover the roadway with the minimumof tractive power because the cutter blade is required to simplyshaveoff the tops I of said hill portions. As this is being done theportions of the roadway which are thus removed are engaged by thetroweling blade and pressed into the depressions and also. smoothed inthe manner of a troweling operation. This movement of the implement overthe roadway is re-. peated, and each time the cutter blade is adjusteddownwardly so that it cuts off the next adjacent portions of the hilltops, and after a few operations the amount of material removed fromraised portions of the roadway will have been carried into the depressedportions of the roadway and troweled in such position, and when thustroweled, the oiled gravel will present a smooth moisture-resistantsurface in which the rain will not pentrate to any appreciable extent,so that after the operation of my implement has been completed theroadway is left in perfect condition. l I

One of the principal advantages of my improvement is, that the cuttingblade is positively prevented, under all circumstances, from penetratingdeeply into the roadway material; hence, after the operation has beencompleted with my implement the roadway has not been cut into or torn upinto large sized chunks as is the case where implements of this kind areused wherethe cutting blade-may penetrate deeply. Obviously, the sameadjustment of the cutter blade relative to the' troweling blade may beeflected by the modified forms shown in Figure 5. l

' I have found in practice that the troweling blade works effectivelyand satisfactorily with its lower edge curved in the manner shown in thedrawing, but I have also found that a straight troweling blade can beutilized and will do satisfactory work.

I also find in practical use that by having a 'member like my improvedtroweling blade, or

some other road-engaging member, the cutter blade may be adjusted,relative thereto, or one may be adjusted relative to the other in such amanner as to effectively cut off only the tops of the hill portions ofthe roadway, and not cut deeply into the roadway and I, therefore, donot wish to be understood as limiting the use of my invention to theparticular form of troweling blade shown.

I claim as myinvention: l. A roadway smoothing implement comprising avehicle, aroadway troweling blade pivotally supported bythe vehicle andextended transthe forward edge of the troweling blade, andmeansforadjustably fixingi'the troweling blade in various positions of itspivotal movement relative to the vehicle.

2. A roadway smoothing implement comprising a ,yehicle, a roadwaytroweling blade pivotally supported by the vehicle and extendedtransversely thereof and being inclined downwardly and rearwardlyfromits front edge, a cutter blade j fixed to the forward edge of thetroweling blade in a substantially upright position with its lower 7edge below the forward edge of the troweling blade, and means foradjustably fixing the troweling blade in various positions 'of itspivotal movement relative to the vehicle.

3. A roadway smoothing implement comprising a Vehicle, a roadwaytroweling blade pivotally supported by the vehicle andextended'transverse ly thereof and being inclined downwardly and '7rearwardly from its front e'dge,=a cutterb-lade attached to the forwardedge of the troweling blade in a substantially upright position withitslower edge below the forward edge of the troweltroweling blade invarious positions of its pivota movement relative to the vehicle.

JOHN J. BEADLE.

15 versely thereof and being curved on its under surface downwardly andrearwardly from: its

